Auckland

Reef House

Architect

Strachan Group Architects

Location

Auckland

Completed

2019

Project type

Residential

Profile

E200

Colour

Dulux Duratec Textured Matte Slate

Photographer

Simon Devitt & Tessa Chrisp

A coastal home above the reef, built to face the sea.

Reef House sits above Daniels Reef on the Leigh coastline, looking northeast toward Little Barrier Island. Designed by Strachan Group Architects and winner of the 2020 NZIA Local Award for Housing, it is a home that opens itself to the coast, built to hold that position without asking for attention in return.

Facing the sea

Reef House is a family holiday home designed around outlook and coastal life. The site overlooks Daniels Reef with extensive sea views from northeast to south, and every part of the architecture responds to that position, from the orientation of the main living spaces to the layered outdoor areas that step down toward the water.

Strachan Group Architects worked closely with the landscape architects at SGLA to integrate the building into its clifftop surrounds. Planting, material and form all pull in the same direction: a home that settles into the coastal landscape rather than competing with it.

Quiet on the outside. Open to the sea.

The material palette at Reef House is one of restraint. Every choice was made to keep the architecture from interrupting the landscape it looks out across. Nu Wall E200 aluminium in Duratec Textured Matte Slate sits at the quieter end of that palette — a tone that shifts with the coastal light, reads differently in morning mist than in afternoon sun, and never draws attention away from the view it was chosen to frame.

The E200 profile’s crisp negative detail introduces a linear rhythm across the facade without visual noise. Shadow lines form and dissolve through the day. Up close, the textured surface has depth. From the water, the house simply belongs to its headland.

To weather the exposed coastal elements, durability was non-negotiable. Nu Wall cladding provided a resilient solution. We offset this with warm, oil-stained cedar to create a facade that feels both protective and naturally connected to the site.

Dave Strachan, Design Director

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